American Heart Association marked CPR & AED Awareness Week at the Hooks game Thursday with CPR demos and honored two local heroes after CPR saved a mother and baby.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A local effort to “turn bystanders into lifesavers” took center field Thursday night as the American Heart Association marked CPR & AED Awareness Week with hands-on training, education, and a special honor for two people credited with saving two lives. 

At Whataburger Field during a Corpus Christi Hooks game, the organization distributed more than 160 CPR kits and led demonstrations teaching fans Hands-Only CPR and AED use as part of its broader “Nation of Lifesavers” campaign.



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The initiative comes during CPR & AED Awareness Week, June 1-7, aimed at closing a deadly gap: nearly 90% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests do not survive, often because bystanders don’t step in. Health officials say immediate CPR can double or even triple a victim’s chance of survival.

“If you can perform CPR while we’re waiting for emergency services to arrive, you could double or triple the chances of survival,” said Amy Snell Canterbury, development director for the American Heart Association in Corpus Christi. 

“The more people know it, the safer our community will be, the safer your loved ones will be.”

The night also honored Ernest Flores and CC-PD dispatcher Linda Campbell as Heartsaver Heroes after a real-life emergency earlier this year.

Flores said it was three months ago that his wife Mikayla, then 34 weeks pregnant, suddenly collapsed at home. 
He called 911 and was connected to Campbell, who walked him through CPR step-by-step until first responders arrived.

“She did like a countdown and that’s when I started doing the compressions until the paramedics arrived,” Flores said. He credited the entire chain of care – from dispatch to hospital staff – for saving both his wife and baby.

Mikayla and the couple’s newborn daughter, Soleia, are now healthy after an extended NICU stay.

“It made me fall in love with him ten times more,” Mikayla said. 

Flores added, “She’s a fighter… they’re both here with me today because they had strength too.”

Campbell and Flores were both recognized on the field for their roles in the lifesaving effort, which organizers say underscores a simple message: CPR doesn’t require medical training – just willingness to act.

Cardiac arrest can happen anywhere, from the grocery store to the workplace, and officials say too few bystanders intervene due to uncertainty or lack of training. The American Heart Association hopes events like Wednesday’s will help change that.